More from McLellan on his two goalies and Minnesota well aware of that hot streak that Pavelski is on

Antti Niemi gets the start in goal tonight against the Minnesota Wild (as telegraphed in previous posting), and it looks as if James Sheppard is again the odd-man-out on the fourth line. Todd McLellan didn’t confirm, but Sheppard was the last healthy player skating with the corps of injured Sharks long after others had left the ice. And McLellan did say that it was a coach’s decision not to play Sheppard last game against Winnipeg, so health not a factor.

McLellan was asked whether Alex Stalock’s recent play was making the nightly goaltending decision difficult (again, see previous posting) and this is how he responded:

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“In September when he made the team he made it difficult,” the coach said. “He had a very good skill level there and we were confident. We don’t take making goaltender decisions lightly. We talk about it. We consult the goaltending coaches. We look at the lineup and, believe it or not, we do have a plan and we’re executing it as we go forward.”

Then came the question about Niemi’s workload as he’s played more games than all but one NHL netminder. Niemi has played in 43; Mike Smith of the Phoenix Coyotes has played in one more.

“You have to know Nemo,” McLellan said. “I have more concern when we rest Nemo than when we play him.”

Even before the shutouts, McLellan had said Stalock would be getting more starts at this point in the season because of Niemi’s Olympic commitments. And Saturday, Niemi said he was OK with that.

But he also said the coaching staff had not mentioned that to him.

So is Niemi at all surprised by the recent success Stalock has had.

“Not really, the way he is in practice and how hard he practices,” Niemi said. “He wants to be out there and he doesn’t want to take the easy road out there.”

****Expect the Wild, who have won three of their last four games and beat the Chicago Blackhawks in their latest outing, to be aware when Joe Pavelski is on the ice tonight. That little streak of seven goals in the last four games, including three straight game winners, or the bigger streak of 19 goals in the last 21, warrants that.

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“When a guy’s feeling it like that, you have to expect that he’s going to be getting himself into positions and certainly he’s going to be shooting pucks every opportunity he gets,” Wild Coach Mike Yeo said. “So it won’t be enough for us to be close to him. We’re going to have to make sure we’re on him and on him tight.

“But at the same time,” Yeo continued, “if he’s on a streak like that it’s because he’s getting a lot of help and support as well so there’s other players on the ice we have to make sure we’re aware of. And we have to make sure we’re focused on our game defensively. If we do that, focus on ourselves, then it shouldn’t matter who we play against.”

****Had a chance to catch up with ex-Shark Torrey Mitchell, currently playing on Minnesota’s fourth line. He’s averaging 10:20 ice time this season and has a goal and eight assists. Maybe more significantly, he and his wife, Brindy, are expecting their first child, a baby girl, over the Olympic break. Good timing.

David Pollak

David Pollak has been following the NHL forever and at the Mercury News as an editor or reporter since 1987. For almost a decade he wrote about the Sharks as the paper's Fan in the Stands before joining the sports department in 2001. He became the Sharks beat writer before the 2007-08 season and began this blog at that time. You can also follow him on Twitter at @PollakOnSharks.

For one hundredth time, Sharks players are always wrong, opposing players are always right, don’t you get it? And whenever there’s a blatant infraction AGAINST the Sharks player (Cleary-Hannan) Hockeynut stays mum. It’s kind of like that Ancient Greek admonition about not speaking ill of the dead: either speak ill about the Sharks or say nothing.

ppc

Yup. It’s kind of funny to watch them twist and contort to spin something negative out of success.

Tom (fm Quinzee)

Among the things I love about WTC, DP’s most recent post brings up Post-modernism, and you’ve got the Ancient Greek wisdom going. Philosophy and insults, too!!! Such a deal.

Tom (fm Quinzee)

How would either the Stanford or Cal football stadiums work? I think Stanford’s capacity is about 50K, and its sight lines are great. I think the League does want to expand the fan base, but no way do we get 60K or more here. A lot of empty seats would not be a good image.

Tom (fm Quinzee)

The last time I checked a website that compiles stats for man-games missed, the Sharks had the fewest in the League – 1 – because the Sharks DID NOT REPORT any of theirs. DUH! I realize that at some point the team would have to report something, but this is akin to “upper body injury.” They don’t have to be too specific.

Tom (fm Quinzee)

The way things are going for LA, they may catch the ‘Nucks, and that would be as a negative development.

Hockeynut

The cutoff was five because when people usually talk about “rankings” on something they use either five or ten as the gauge. Geez are you really that stupid or do you have to practice?

GP_hockeyhappens

Fail!

You didn’t mention where the Sharks were. You KNEW it would make you look juvenile. And, for once I can say, you were right. You are extremely juvenile.

Crawl back in your hole — hole!

GP_hockeyhappens

And again, a lie/misrepresentation — something you do to maintain your rep. You do this well actually.

Drew, in context of the Brown hit, had no issue with the 5 min major and gamer. The only thing Drew differentiated was he didn’t think Brown did this intentionally so he probably wouldn’t get anything more. But, Drew also didn’t spend much time analyzing the hit either.